Heat interchanger



Aug. 22, 1939. E. PRAT HEAT INTERCHANGER Filed Feb. 7. 1958 fr?! H,Il C l y i! Patented Aug. 1939 UNi'rED STATES PATENT OFFICE Application FebruaryV 7, A1938, 'Serial No. 189,222l In France February 13, 193'! l Claims.

The present invention relates-to a device for tightening' the plates of air interchangers `ponsisting of plates assembled by means of sectional irons fitting upon the edges of these plates in 5 such manner as to constitute elements easy to assemble for the circulation of air or gases. In air or gas reheaters of this kind, for instance those described in the U. S. Patent No. 1,559,180, issued Oct. '27, 1925, the tightening is more especially obtained by means of springs or spirals working in a dlametral manner.

The object of the present invention is to provide a device of the kind above referred to which is better adapted to meet the requirements of practice than devices of this kind used up to the present time.

According to the essential feature of the present invention, the tightening device includes wedge-shaped sectional irons arranged in such manner that the longitudinal displacement of one of them ensures the tightening of the metal plates or sheets of the re-heaterf Other features of the present invention will result from the following detailed description of some specific embodiments thereof.

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be hereinafter described, with reference to the accompanying drawing, given merely by way of example, and in which:

l 111g. 1 is an elevational view, in section on 'the line I--i of Fig. 2, showing some element assembled together;

-Flg. 2 is a horizontal view in section on the line 2--2 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a perspective view from the front of the structure of Fig. l, some parts of said structure being cut away '.Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional view of a wedgeshaped sectional iron to be'employed in con- 40 nection with the invention; Figs. 5 and 6 are sectional views of modifications of the arrangement of Fig. fi.` The plates a which limit the air spaces for .the circulation of air to be reheateclv or of hot gases are engaged, through their upper and lower edges, in the channels of sectional irons b. On the front and rear edges of these plates a,

' there are fitted analogous sectional irons c. Be-

tween these plates a and near the front and rear edges thereof, I engage, according to the present invention, sectionalv irons d-d having respective cooperating tooth-shaped surfaces.

By pulling or pushing sectionalirons d up-- wardly or downwardly through any suitable means, I cause the inclined tooth-shaped surfaces ,thereof to slide with respect to one another, so

that said surfaces act as wedges and tightly apply plates a against the inner sides of sectional irons c. In a like manner, the upper and lower edges of plates a are tightly applied against the inner 5 sides of sectional irons b through sectional irons a, analogous to sectional irons d, and working in the manner of wedges between Vsaid plates a. Owing to this simple arrangement, the plates are quickly assembled together so as to conl0 stitute the circulation elements of the heat interchanger'. Between cooperating sectional irons b and/or between cooperating sectional irons c, -I provide intervals or recesses for the inflow and the outflow of the fluids, as shown at e, e, 15

f, (Fig. 3) so that said fluids iiow through a1- ternate intervalsof this kind in the usual manner.

might be devised as shown by Fig. 4, consisting of three parts h, i, j, with the middle onev provided `with saw-toothed-shaped surfaces on either side thereof and the two lateral sectional Virons i, i having each corresponding surfaces 25 on a single side thereof. n The sectional irons in question might have each only one inclined surface, extending over the whole length thereof, as shown at d in Fig. 5.

vIn the embodiment of Fig. 6, the single in- 30 clined surface ls provided on a middle sectional iron h.- and on lateral sectional irons i', i', analogous to elements h, i, j of the embodiment of Fig. 4.

In a general manner, while I have, in the 35 above description, disclosed what I deem to be practical and efficient embodiments of. the present invention, it should be well understood that I do not wish to be limited thereto as there might be changes made in the arrangement, dis 40 position, and form o f the parts, without departing from the principle of the present invention as comprehended within the scope of the' appended claims.

what I enum is: 45

1. An apparatus of the type described, which comprises, in combination, a plurality of plates lying adjacent to one another, all in the same direction, with intervals between them, at least one plurality of channel irons, along two oppo- 50 edges of said two. plates, said two elements having wedge-shaped cooperating surfaceslocated in planes perpendicular to the bottoms of said channel irons and inclined with respect to said edges slidable along each other so as to force said two plates tightly against the inner sides of the channel iron by which they are engaged. 2. An apparatus of the type described, which comprises, in combination, a plurality of rectangular plates lying adjacent to one another, all the same direction, with intervals between them, a plurality of channel irons, along two opposite sides of said plurality of plates, cacharranged to cover every second interval between said plates by engaging over the corresponding edges of the two plates limiting said interval, at least two packing elements engaged between said edges ofy said two plates, said two elements having wedge-shaped respective cooperating .surfaces slidable on each other, said surfaces being located in respective planes perpendicular to the bottoms of said channel irons and being inclined with respect to said edges, so as to force said two plates tightly against the inner sides-of the` channel iron by which they are engaged, another plurality of channel irons, along the two f other sides of said 'plurality of plates, each artioned interval, and at least two packing elements engaged between said edgesof said two last mentioned plates, said two last mentioned packingelementshaving wedge-shaped cooperating 'surfaces slidable along each other, said last mentioned surfaces ybeing located in planes perpendicular to the bottoms of the second mentioned channel irons and being inclined with respect to the last mentioned edges, so as to force said two last mentioned plates tightly against the corresponding inner sides of the channel iron by which they are engaged, the intervals covered by the second plurality of channel irons being respectively intercalated vbetween the intervals covered by the iirst plurality of channel irons.

l 3. An apparatus' according to claim 1 in which, along each edge of each of said intervals, there are three packing elements, disposed in adjacent relation, the middle one having wedgeshaped edges on both sides thereof and the other two having corresponding wedge-shaped edges on the respective inner sides thereof.

a. An apparatus according to claim 1 in which said cooperating wedge-shaped surfaces are in the form of the teeth of avsaw.

5. An apparatus according to claim 1 in which the Wedge-shaped'surface of each of said packing elements is continuous and unbroken from one end thereof to the other end.

I EMILE PRAT. 

